Georges BRAQUE (1882-1963)

Procris Pendant on Minos Chain, 1963

18ct textured gold pendant (model no. 12) decorated in red enamel with a standing bird facing left, on a long 18ct gold chain (model no. 46) with 23 textured links with a ring at both ends. Designed by Georges Braque in 1963 and produced by Baron Heger de Löwenfeld in an unfinished edition of 75.

Marks: pendant inscribed on the reverse, BIJOUX DE BRAQUE, PROCRIS, R24/75 LP3037, HEGER DE LOEWENFELD, and stamped ©, French 18ct hallmark, OR 750; chain inscribed on one link, BIJOUX DE BRAQUE, MINOS, R15/75, LP2648, and stamped on another, OR 750 © and with two French 18ct hallmarks.

Dimensions: H. pendant 3.7 cm; W. pendant 5.2 cm; L. chain 69 cm; L. link 3.5 cm

Exhibited: Scultura Aurea. Gioielli d’Artista per un nuovo Rinascimento, Palazzo Ducale, Galleria Nazionale della Marche, Urbino, 30 May - 8 September 2019

Literature: R. de Cuttoli and H. de Löwenfeld, Metamorphoses de Braque. Gouaches, bijoux, sculptures, lives d'art, lithographies, Paris 1989, pp. 50 and 52 (annotations on the original gouaches reproduced show that both pieces were intended to be worn together); Martine Newby Haspeslagh, Jewelry by Contemporary Painters and Sculptors @50: 1967-2017 (Didier Ltd, London 2017), pp. 30-1, no. 15; P. Stroppiana, Scultura Aurea. Gioielli d’Artista per un nuovo Rinascimento. Art Jewellery for a New Renaissance (Gli Ori, Pistoia 2019), p. 55

In Greek mythology Procris was tempted with jewels by her husband Cephalic while in disguise to test her fidelity. At first she resisted, but later succumbed at which point Cephalic revealed himself and drove her away.